Sting said: “It is so exciting to be here and the atmosphere is incredible. It is a perfect day with blue skies and everybody is smiling.”

After sounding the gun, the pair then cheered on the crowd and shook runners’ hands as they crossed the start line.

Other celebrity faces at this year’s event included chef Gordon Ramsay and his wife Tana, Olympic gold medal rower James Cracknell, Apprentice winner Yasmina Siadatan and Zoe Williams, otherwise known as Amazon from TV’s Gladiators.

Among the many charities that were represented in the race was Cancer Research UK, which had a team of 2,750 men and women taking part.

Many runners were cancer survivors themselves, with others donning their trainers in memory of loved ones who lost their lives to the disease.

Heading the Cancer Research UK running team was model and TV personality Nell McAndrew.

Nell, who was running in celebration of her dad Ted, who has been successfully treated for non Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said: “The work that Cancer Research UK does is amazing. When my dad was diagnosed with T-Cell Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, they were the organisation my family and I turned to for information.

“My dad was given a 50/50 chance of survival and, after having a large tumour removed and undergoing a course of chemotherapy, he is now thankfully in remission.

“The support the charity gets will enable them to research more effective treatments, to hopefully keep the survival rate of cancer on the increase and eventually find a cure for all cancers.”

Nell, who was dressed as Stephanie from the children's television show Lazy Town, also hoped to encourage youngsters to run.

“It is fantastic to be here today,” she said. “The children have all recognised me in my pink wig. I’m dressed up like this because I think it’s a great way of encouraging kids to be active and hopefully they will see me and decide that they would like to take part in the run one day too.”

TV presenter Ray Stubbs said: “I do it year in year out and I’m always knocked out by the inspiring stories of the people doing it.”

Also running for Cancer Research UK was

Declan Gallagher, of Whitley Bay, who lost his father to cancer last year.

The 33-year-old, who works as a management accountant for the Jury’s Inn’s Group, was determined to conquer the famous route in memory of his dad, Jackie Gallagher, who passed away in September 2008.

Originally from Ireland, Declan moved to Whitley Bay in 2003, where he now lives with his wife, Nyree, and their two children, Lewis, three, and Cerys, eight months.

Declan said: “I’ve never done any running before this, but after everything my dad went through, I decided to take on the challenge of the Great North Run.”

For 71-year-old Robert Chilton, who has completed the Great North Run 24 times, was raising awareness of prostate cancer, after he was successfully treated for the disease last year.

Robert, of Washington, said: “I’ve completed 24 Great North Runs in my time and I'm so proud that this time I'm running for the Prostate Cancer Charity.”

The event started with the elite wheelchair athletes, followed by the elite women and finally the mass runners, who set off with the elite men.

As runners did their last minute warm-up exercises, they took a moment to remember Sir Bobby Robson when the tribute song ‘Wor Bobby’ was played over the loudspeakers.

The crowd also spent two minutes reflecting on the loved ones they were running in honour of before setting off on the half marathon.

The race saw Kenya's Martin Lel claim victory in the elite men's race, while Portugal's Jessica Augusto broke away early to score an easy victory in the elite women's event.

Britain’s David Weir broke the men's wheelchair course record by over a minute, while American Amanda McGrory won the women's wheelchair title. The first celebrity to finish the race was Olympic rower James Cracknell.

Two people were today under observation in hospital after becoming ill during the run.

A spokesman for Nova International, which organises the event said: “We had a couple of people detained in hospital overnight which is not unusual for a Great North Run. They have been kept in for observation. The medical facilities were busier than usual mainly because of the weather conditions as it was a lot warmer than expected.”